Wheat is under attack. Not from nasty-toothed beetles or fungus-ridden blight. This attack is more sinister, more devastating, because it comes from those once whole-heartedly on wheat’s side. The traitors are none other than the very same nutritionists who used to harp on you to eat your whole-wheat toast.
Wheat and all its lovely products have fallen out of fashion lately with the food conscious. Apparently its complex carbohydrates are unseemly and inappropriate in the bizarro world manipulated by Dr. Atkins. You can feel the panic from the National Wheat Growers as their website flaunts study after study debunking the high-protein/no-carb diet fads. They’re practically shouting, “Amber waves of grain, people! Not amber waves of beef!”
And get ready for a bigger shock, because your bread and cereal is not only trying to make you fat, but it may also be trying to kill you. The wheat- allergic types have organized a strong faction lately, creating a niche market for gluten-free products. To these folks, gluten (the protein in wheat) is the spawn of the devil. But really, what has wheat done to deserve this slander? What has wheat done to you lately? You’ve known it for so long as a solid staple, a warm, crusty slice of health. Maybe the question should be: What has wheat done for you? And the answer would be: not much but build a couple of cities by a big river.
Wheat is a cereal grain that’s existed since the Paleolithic times. Einkorn, a type of coarse-grained wheat and the ancestor of all modern varieties, originated in southeastern Turkey ten thousand years ago. By the dawn of recorded history, wheat was abundant in Asia and Europe and was the most esteemed of cereals, as evidenced by the name “wheat” itself, which refers to the prized whiteness of the flour. Not indigenous to the Americas, it somehow made its way across the pond, and today between sixty million and sixty-three million acres of wheat are harvested in the U.S. each year.
Wheat grows in thirty thousand varieties, but of the hundreds produced in the U.S., six classes can be distinguished. These classes are determined by the time of year planted and harvested, and by the kernel’s hardness, color, and shape. Each class has its own distinctions and characteristics. Hard red winter wheat has good baking qualities, and hard red spring has the highest percentage of proteins. Soft red winter is good for flatbreads, durum is used in semolina for pasta, hard white is good for yeast breads, and soft white is best in bakery products other than bread. And wheat doesn’t stop at the flour mill; it can also be puffed, flaked, or rolled to make your favorite breakfast cereals.
It was one Cadwallander C. Washburn who saw the amazing potential of wheat when, in 1866, he built his first mill by St. Anthony Falls. Named the Washburn “B” Mill, it was dubbed “Washburn’s Folly” by critics who thought there was no way that demand for Midwestern wheat would ever match the output potential of such a mill. But wheat stood strong. By 1880, the Washburn and Crosby Company had perfected and revolutionized the milling process, creating a flour worthy of a gold medal at the International Millers’ Exhibition. The aptly named Gold Medal Flour is still the number-one brand in America.
Meanwhile, across the river, a New Hampshire man who knew nothing about milling thought he might have a go at it. From the old run-down mill he purchased, Charles Pillsbury and family managed to turn a profit the very first year. In 1900, Pillsbury held its first recipe contest to promote its flour, offering prizes up to $680. Did you know the current winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off wins $1 million?
Minneapolis became known as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.” The Washburn “A” Mill was the largest and most innovative mill in the world, grinding enough flour to make twelve million loaves of bread a day. The city flourished as the mills used the railways to bring in grain from all over the country. Milled flour was sent to Duluth and points east for distribution and export around the globe. The city’s population jumped from 13,000 in 1870 to 165,000 by 1890.
The Washburn and Crosby Company became General Mills, which by virtue of good old Midwestern fiscal thinking not only survived but thrived during the Great Depression. They continued to innovate and push boundaries, like when someone dropped some bran gruel on a hot stove and accidentally created Wheaties. Or like the time when their mechanical division created bombsights and precision control instruments for the army in World War II. Yeah, that was fun. They also facilitated the creation of the “black box” used to record flight data, conducted hot air balloon experiments during the Cold War, and helped create the submarine used to explore the Titanic. All of this because of wheat.
If you want to watch the impact of wheat on a daily basis, check out the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. Since 1880, the MGEX has made wheat a money player on the world scene. The futures pit is madness with method, controlled chaos as the traders still use “open outcry” to sell futures and options. As the only contract market for hard red spring wheat, the MGEX trades around four thousand contracts daily.
But to really grasp the position of wheat and its role in the city and the world, you’ll have to check out the Mill City Museum, opening this month. It sits within the ruins of the Washburn “A” Mill and fully explains how Minneapolis came to be the breadbasket of our country. Maybe while sitting at the museum’s Wheat Street Café by D’Amico, you’ll see that fads may come and go, and times may get harder before they get better, but you can’t beat wheat.
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